The New Testament book of the Acts of the Apostles records some important details about what happened between the Resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus Christ. What took place during those 40 days? Where were the disciples of Jesus and what would they do now that Jesus was planning on returning to the heavenly realm to be with God the Father? Join Pastor Jim as he offers an intro to Acts and walks us through the first few verses of this amazing book!
Sermon Notes
Historical Narrative
- More descriptive than prescriptive
- More indicative than imperative
Author: Luke
Luke’s Two Volume Set:
Luke 1:1-4 and Acts 1:1-2
1. Jesus chose them.
“Our Christian life began not with our decision to follow Christ but with God’s call to us to do so. He took the initiative in his grace while we were still in rebellion and sin. In that state we neither wanted to turn from sin to Christ, nor were we able to. But he came to us and called us to freedom.”
John Stott
2. Jesus appeared to them.
“Easter confronts us with a historical event set in time. We are faced with a story of an empty tomb, of a small group of men and women who were at one stage hiding for their lives and at the next were brave enough to face the full judicial persecution of the Roman Empire and proclaim their belief in a risen Christ.”
A. N. Wilson
3. Jesus commanded them.
“Since the days of Pentecost, has the whole church ever put aside every other work and waited upon Him for ten days, that the Spirit’s power might be manifested? We give too much attention to method and machinery and resources, and too little to the source of power.”
Hudson Taylor
4. Jesus commissioned them.
“The Company of Jesus is not people streaming to a shrine; and it is not people making up an audience for a speaker; it is laborers engaged in the harvesting task of reaching their perplexed and seeking brethren with something so vital that, if it is received, it will change their lives.”
Elton Trueblood
The Company of the Committed
“But you take pleasure in the faces of those who know they thirst. You cherish those who grip you for survival.”
Rainer Maria Rilke